Elcho Falling was in total panic. StarDrifter, Salome and every other Icarii within the citadel were searching high and low for StarDancer. No one knew what had happened — the baby had been there one moment and gone the next. The Icarii Enchanters, and most particularly his two powerful parents, could sense him, and occasionally hear his cries, but they could not locate him.

A powerful enchantment, dark and sinister, concealed him.

Isaiah was at his wits’ end. Quite frankly, he could have done without this latest drama. He was sick with worry about the Dark Spire, with wondering where Maximilian was, with what Eleanon and the Lealfast might be planning, and with what Axis and Inardle might be up to as they lounged in the reed beds.

The last thing he needed to fret about was a baby. StarDrifter and Salome were turning the citadel upside down. Isaiah had organised search parties, but most of all he wanted StarDrifter and Salome to calm down and let the the rest of them carry out a systematic and organised exploration of the citadel.

Isaiah hoped this was just a case of baby-snatching and not something more sinister.

“Isaiah?”

Isaiah turned from talking to Georgdi, almost snarling at the interruption.

Damn it, the last thing he needed was a rampant StarDrifter riling up the entire citadel!

It was Garth Baxtor, and Isaiah subsided, apologising for his black look.

“It’s about the baby, StarDancer,” Garth said.

“Yes?” Isaiah said, all his bad temper returning.

“I think it might have something to do with Ravenna,” Garth said.

Ravenna! Isaiah had forgotten all about her, and he realised that had been a stupid thing to do. “Ravenna?” he said.

Garth made a helpless gesture. “It is just a feeling, Isaiah, and I am sorry to trouble you with it. But if she had taken the baby . . . no one can see her .”

“Why would she take the baby?” Isaiah said.

“Maybe it is part of Eleanon’s plan. If he could see this amount of disruption .”

Isaiah took a moment to think it through. Maybe Garth had a good point. “So, if Ravenna did have the child, how would we find it?”

“I don’t know. No one can see Ravenna, and if StarDrifter and Salome can’t scry out their own son with their powers .”

Then what good is any of this? Isaiah thought, but discarded the thought. Garth was only trying to help and none of this current consternation, or the lost baby, was his fault.

Isaiah rested a hand on Garth’s shoulder. “Thank you, Garth. I’ll —”

He was interrupted by the approach of a sergeant-at-arms from the Isembaardian forces.

“Yes?” Isaiah snapped, not liking the look on the man’s face. More bad news.

“Excellency,” the man said, “I have news from the guard on the balcony.”

“Yes?”

“He said, um .”

“Oh, spit it out, man!”

The sergeant major took a deep breath. “He said that Axis and Inardle were attacked by six Lealfast. He said that Inardle turned herself into a column of murderous water and slaughtered five of the Lealfast. The sixth escaped.”

Isaiah stared at the sergeant, and then burst into laughter. He clapped the man on the shoulder. “Thank the gods for some good news!” he said. “Tell the guard he is due some goodwill on my part, and you, too, for relaying this news.”

The sergeant-at-arms bowed and retreated, the fact that his head remained on his shoulders goodwill enough for him.

Axis’ head broke the surface and he blinked the water out of his eyes, taking several deep breaths. That journey had been far better than the last.

Beside him Inardle emerged, not in the least out of breath.

There were several soldiers standing in the small chamber which held the entrance pool, and two of them held out their hands to help Axis and Inardle out of the water.

“I hope you didn’t want a welcome home party, StarMan,” one of them said. “There’s a bit of a fuss happening right now.”

Ravenna sat behind a tall stack of boxes in a storage chamber. She held StarDancer in her arms, but loosely, and the baby was calm now, regarding her with curious violet eyes.

Who are you? he asked her.

“My name is Ravenna,” she said.

I have heard of you. You were once a marsh witch, yes? Very powerful.

“Once.”

Now many have wrapped you in their curses.

Tears slipped down Ravenna’s cheeks. She knew she had to kill the baby, the One demanded it of her, but she couldn’t . . . she couldn’t .

Why do you want to kill me?

“I do not wish to, but I am obliged to by one of the curses placed upon me.”

Cursed by whom?

“By the One.”

Now StarDancer wriggled a little in his excitement. Of course! Now it was all making sense! He must have dreamed of the One! The One is here, in the citadel?

“Yes, he has hidden himself in the Dark Spire.”

He has only just moved here, from a place very far away.

“Yes.”

Ah, StarDancer said, understanding.

“He thinks you will expose him. Tell others where he is.”

StarDancer’s small mouth curved in a smile. That was likely not the reason the One wanted him dead.

“Axis!” Isaiah embraced Axis, then turned to look at Inardle. He took her face in his hands, looking deeply into her eyes.

“So,” he said, smiling a little now.

“So,” she said.

“How does it feel?” Isaiah said.

Inardle shrugged a little.

Isaiah sobered. “I heard what happened with the Lealfast, Inardle. Be careful of what you now control.”

“Of course,” she said, and Isaiah let her face go.

“Your brother has been stolen, Axis,” he said. “The citadel is in an uproar. Inardle, is this something Eleanon would have engineered?”

“How should I know?” she said. “But . . . no, I would have thought not. I have never heard him express any interest in Salome’s baby.”

“Garth thinks it may be Ravenna,” Isaiah said, and explained to Axis and Inardle how she’d come to be in Elcho Falling. “None of us can spot her, not even Garth. Inardle . . . is it possible .?”

“You want me to look for the baby?” Inardle said.

“If you could,” Isaiah said. “You may be able to see through Eleanon’s magics where none of us can.”

“You want me to look for StarDrifter’s baby?” Inardle said. “How would he feel about that?”

“Profoundly grateful, if you found his son,” Axis said.

Inardle shot Axis a cynical look, but inclined her head. “Very well. Can you show me the chamber from which he was taken?”

The One has cursed you and you shall be forced to kill me? StarDancer said to Ravenna.

“Aye. I can delay,” Ravenna said, “but eventually I will kill you. I cannot help it. I will dash you from one of the high windows. I am sorry. I do not really wish to do it.”

Ravenna, who else has cursed you? I can sense that Ishbel has placed three tight and binding curses about you, but there is one other besides that of the One . . .

“Eleanon, the Lealfast who has besieged Elcho Falling, placed a curse on me as well, warped in with Ishbel’s. It conceals me from the regard of others in Elcho Falling, and it forced me to do his bidding.”

Which was . . . ?

“Which was to midwive the Dark Spire’s terrible eggs and place them within the walls of Elcho Falling. I do not know what they do there. StarDancer, I am sorry.” Ravenna rose, not understanding why she was telling StarDancer this much. Perhaps she owed him some kind of explanation. “The urge to kill you now is overwhelming. I can delay no longer.”

I can remove the One’s curse from you, as well as Eleanon’s.

“ What?” Ravenna, who had taken several paces already, now stopped dead. “How is that possible?”

I am very powerful.. I can do this. I could also remove Ishbel’s curses, but I do not dare that far. I like and respect Ishbel and would not undo her work without permission. I can remove both the One’s and Eleanon’s curses and then it will be your own decision whether or not you kill me.

“You can remove the One’s and Eleanon’s curses?”

Yes.

“But you are just a mere baby!”

No mere baby. Again StarDancer’s mouth curved in a tiny smile. I am the most powerful Enchanter the Icarii have ever known. More powerful even than the great WolfStar, whom my father has told me about. More powerful than my brother and able to manipulate the Star Dance as easily as he. I am no “mere baby”. I can sing an enchantment, Ravenna, that will rid you of two of your three curses. Would you like me to do that?

“Yes,” Ravenna whispered. “Yes.”

Imagine, StarDancer said, what I will be like as a full adult, if I can do this much as a baby.

StarDrifter was unhappy about involving Inardle in the search. He paced the chamber he shared with Salome and, until so very recently, his son, and sent dark looks shooting between Axis and Inardle.

Salome stood to one side, her face pale with anxiety, her eyes reddened from weeping.

She did not look at Inardle.

Inardle did not appear to notice either of them. She walked over to the cot where StarDancer had been sleeping and traced her fingers over its contours.

“Who here has worried about their child recently?” she said.

Everyone in the room — Isaiah, Axis, Garth, StarDrifter and Salome — looked between themselves.

“ I have worried about a child recently!” StarDrifter grated.

“Not you,” Inardle said. “Someone else has been here, desperately worried about a child.”

“You can feel that from the cot?” Garth said.

“Yes,” Inardle said. “You might, too, if you lay your fingers on it. Could your Touch feel it?”

Garth walked over and lay his hand on the cot. He was quiet, then he looked up. “Yes,” he said. “Ravenna.”

“Ravenna is worried about StarDancer?” StarDrifter said.

“She was pregnant with Maximilian’s child,” Garth said, “and Ishbel cursed it . . . perhaps Ravenna worries about its health. Whatever, Ravenna has been here, and there is deep worry associated with her presence. Regret. Sorrow. Fear for the future. So much bad feeling.”

“So now we must find Ravenna,” Inardle said, all practicality.

“Can you see her?” Salome said, speaking for the first time since Isaiah had brought Axis and Inardle to the chamber.

Inardle gave a slight shrug and StarDrifter lost his temper completely.

“You don’t give a damn, do you? This is my son, and he has been stolen from me, and you don’t give a single damn where he is. I —”

“StarDrifter,” Axis said, trying to reach out to his father.

“You have every reason to hate me and the Icarii,” StarDrifter snarled at Inardle, “and you see this as your chance to gloat that —”

“StarDrifter,” Isaiah said, “shut up now or by the gods I will stand down every one of the search parties and send them off for a well-earned meal and a rest. Yes, you have lost your son, but, damn it, StarDrifter, everyone is trying to help you!”

StarDrifter glared at Isaiah and sent another simmering look of ill will toward Inardle. He folded his arms and turned away.

Axis closed his eyes briefly, then looked at Inardle. “Inardle?”

She was still affecting cool indifference. “This way, perhaps,” she said, indicating the door to the external corridor.

“Oh, brilliant deduction,” StarDrifter muttered.

“If you want,” Inardle said, “I will stop right now.”

“No,” Axis said, literally stepping to stand between the two of them. “Inardle, please, do it for me.”

She looked at him, and Axis could see a glint of humour in her eyes.

She was enjoying herself.

Inardle, he said. Please.

Her mouth curved, then she turned and walked for the door. “Ravenna has left a clear enough trail,” she said. “For mypowers to pick up, at least.”

There, StarDancer said. Does that feel better?

Ravenna could not answer immediately. She sat, cradling StarDancer in her arms, tears running down her cheeks.

Ishbel’s curse remained, but to be freed of the two hateful and dark-fingered powers of Eleanon and the One. Oh gods . . . oh gods .

No doubt the One will be raging within the Dark Spire.

Ravenna managed a smile through her tears. “Good.” Her smile slipped a little: “He cannot reach me now?”

No.

Ravenna relaxed. Freed of the One’s power, and of Eleanon’s. This child was remarkable and, even more remarkable, what he had done had not even hurt her. Ravenna had forgotten what it was like not to be hurt and humiliated by another.

I have a favour to ask of you.

Now Ravenna tensed. So there was to be a price paid, after all.

I am not going to plead for my life — that is your decision truly. But before you decide, can you tell me about the powers you had as a marsh witch? And of this Land of Nightmares which exists beyond the Land of Dreams? Can you explain to me its parameters and meanings?

“Why?” Ravenna said.

To sate my curiosity.

Ravenna shrugged. So far as prices went, this was but a mild one. “As you wish.”

Inardle led them through Elcho Falling, down the main staircase, along a corridor some eight or nine levels above ground level, then up a smaller service stairwell for another five or six levels. Here, on a small landing where small hallways led deeper into Elcho Falling, she called everyone to a halt.

“I will go on alone from here,” she said. “Ravenna is close.”

“I should come with you,” Garth said.

Inardle considered him, then nodded. “Very well.”

They walked along one of the hallways, leaving behind a group of restless and variously suspicious people.

“Do you know where we are?” Inardle asked Garth.

“This place is too huge for me to have been through it completely,” Garth said, “but these levels are generally storage levels. Dormitories, command chambers, living quarters and so forth are much higher in the citadel.”

“There is something bleak ahead.”

Garth caught at Inardle’s elbow, stopping her. “Inardle . . . Ravenna has done much damage, and she is a changed woman since I first met her . . . but she has also done good and came originally from a good place. I’ve heard a little of what you are now. Please . . . ” He stopped, not knowing how to continue.

To his surprise Inardle gave a small smile and squeezed his hand reassuringly. “I have more sympathy for her than you might believe,” she said, and with that they walked on.

Inardle led them eventually to a chamber stacked to its ceiling with what looked like boxes of blankets and pillows. There was a small space between the boxes, and Inardle, Garth directly behind her, threaded her way through.

Inardle stopped, holding up a hand to silence Garth. She looked back at him, then pointed ahead and moved her finger, indicating something about the curve in the narrow passageway.

Garth nodded his understanding.

They moved forward, slowly and carefully.

Inardle hesitated just at the curve of the passageway between the piled-high boxes, then she stepped around it.

“Hello, Ravenna,” she said.

Garth was directly behind Inardle, and he looked over her shoulder.

His first thought was that he was surprised that he could actually see Ravenna, the second was horror at her appearance. She was skeletally thin, her skin almost grey, her general appearance unkempt and ill.

He looked at her belly. She still appeared to be pregnant, but she was in such a poor condition, he wouldn’t gamble on the health of the baby.

Ravenna held a baby in her arms: StarDancer.

“Ravenna?” Garth said softly.

Ravenna looked up, her eyes filled with tears. “I was to kill him,” she said. “I couldn’t do it.”

Much later, when Isaiah had caused Ravenna to be locked in a comfortable yet secure room, he met with StarDrifter, Salome, Axis and Garth in the Talon’s chamber. StarDrifter sat with his son held tight in his arms and Isaiah did not think he was going to let him go any time soon.

“StarDancer is well?” he asked the boy’s parents, relieved that Inardle was not present.

“Yes, thank the Stars,” StarDrifter said, his face still drawn and tense.

“And Ravenna?” Isaiah asked Garth, knowing the physician had been to see her.

“She has been very unwell,” Garth said, “but should grow better with rest and good food.” He paused. “The child she carries is not doing well, though, and there is a danger Ravenna will miscarry it. Hopefully as Ravenna improves, so will her child.”

“She is a great danger to us,” said Salome, “and should be murdered herself.”

She has come to regret her actions, StarDancer said, his words clear in the minds of all in the room. She did not kill me.

He paused, and when he spoke again his mind-voice was heavy with power and concern.

The One is here.

“What?” everyone else said simultaneously.

In the Dark Spire.

“But none of us —” Isaiah began.

He has concealed himself well. None of you could spot him. I could not even discern his presence. But he is here, have no doubt.

“So that is he of whom you dreamed,” StarDrifter said. “We should have listened to you.”

Yes.

“Shetzah!” Isaiah cursed. “We must —”

Nothing you can do shall repel him, StarDancer said. He is too powerful. Not even Maximilian can match him now.

Axis looked at his brother, wondering that none of them questioned what StarDancer said.

Stars, the child commanded everyone in this room!

Axis felt a stab of resentment, both at StarDancer’s power and at the unquestioning acceptance of it by everyone, including himself.

But there is something that can be done.

“What?” Isaiah said.

It needs to wait until the Lord of Elcho Falling has returned, StarDancer said. But until then, Ravenna needs to be kept well and safe. She must not be murdered.